DIY Shoe Upcycles! 5 Easy tutorials

DIY, Tutorial

This post may include affiliate links. See my full disclosure here.

 

DIY-shoes-magenta-lace-ups-graphic

Hey all!  Today’s DIY is actually a collection of projects that I’ve been brainstorming for a while.  There are so many fabulous shoe trends right now and every time I see a new one I think “Hey!  I should just make that!”  It’s a curse, amiright??

So today I’ve got FIVE separate ways to upcycle plain, old shoes that might be collecting dust in the back of your closet and turn them into something new and amazing!

Project 1:  Add jewels!

diy-shoes-collage2

These old Target sandals were a summer staple a couple years ago but they’re looking old and worn lately.  After seeing some bedazzled inspirational sandals at Anthropologie, I decided this would be the perfect solution.

I bought these strands of crystals at Michael’s and simply stitched them to the braided strap!  I used some upholstery thread that I had on-hand but regular thread would work too, as long as you used several strands.

IMG_7629

IMG_7630

Project 2:  Turning boring D’Orsay pumps into lace up heels!

diy-shoes-collage3

This was by far the simplest upcycle.  I took these cute (but plain) H&M pumps and glued a little strip of ribbon in a loop to the inside back of the heel.  When the superglue dried, I strung this cute studded cording through the loop and laced them up!

DIY-shoes-lace-up-pumps

DIY-shoes-lace-up-pumps2

I bought the cording for this project (and for the magenta heels below) also at Michael’s.

DIY-shoes-materials

Project 3:  Adding temporary sparkle to ho-hum heels

diy-shoes-collage

I REEEALLY love these pumps from Forever 21 (bought years ago!) but found myself passing them over because they are so simple.  I finally decided that an old bling-y necklace had served its purpose and needed to be taken apart and glued to shoe clips!  I bought these from Amazon and love them.

DIY-shoes-jeweled-clips4

Project 4: Brightening up magenta pumps with more lacing!

DIY-shoes-magenta-lace-ups

This project was only slightly more time-consuming than the black pumps above.  In addition to gluing a ribbon loop on the the back inside heel, I also superglued two more loops on the sides of the show, right around the center of my arch.

Then I laced the cording (this kind is stretchy!) through both side loops, crossed them once and then looped them both through the back loop and laced them up (the center of the cording passes under my arch).  As a former ballerina, I think this look is my favorite!

DIY-shoes-magenta-lace-ups3

Project 5:  Added a crafty bohemian vibe to some lace-up sandals

DIY-shoes-lace-up-sandals3

Lately, I’ve seen SO much inspiration for lace-up sandals with a funky, eclective look to them...Sam Edelman’s collection this Spring had lots of embroidery, poms, tassels, mirrors and fringe all over the place!  I loved it!

After channeling my inner gypsy and trying my hand at these, I’m not sure what I think.  I like the direction they’re taking but still not positive they’re finished.  What are your thoughts?

DIY-shoes-lace-up-sandals

DIY-shoes-lace-up-sandals2

I kinda think they still just look like a summer camp project where I threw a bunch of craft crap on them with a glue gun (which is exactly what I did).  I’ll keep you updated if I make any more headway!

Well, that’s a wrap!  Which project was your favorite??  Got any old shoes lying around you can bring new life to?

previous article
next article

1 Comment

  • Reply
    Tonya
    May 25, 2016 at 6:15 pm

    OMGOODNESS!!! Very fab!! Thank you for sharing this great info!

  • Leave a Reply

    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.